Aviation News

After seven months of examining data from the hypersonic HTV-2 vehicle that was lost during a test flight over the Pacific last August, DARPA says it has zeroed in on the vehicle’s skin, and its inability to withstand the stresses of incredibly fast speeds, as the source of the malfunction. According to DARPA’s report, ground […]

The importance of foreign markets to U.S. planemakers was apparent at this year’s Aero Friedrichshafen, which concluded a remarkably successful 2012 edition this weekend with record attendance from exhibitors and visitors alike. A total of 30,800 visitors stopped by to check out the wide variety of airplanes and other products presented by 550 exhibitors. While […]

Cessna Aircraft has temporarily suspended sales of the single-engine 162 Skycatcher in Europe as the lightplane maker works with European airworthiness officials on certification for the model. As a result, Cessna is honoring requests to return deposits to customers in Europe who hold Skycatcher delivery positions. French Cessna dealer Aeromecanic caused a minor furor when […]

An Airbus A320 captain is in hot water after investigators found he was forced to abort a landing below 500 feet after preoccupation with his cell phone caused him to forget to deploy the landing gear. According to the Australian newspaper the Age, the Jetstar captain was sidetracked by incoming text messages as he and […]

Boeing and All Nippon Airways made history this week, flying a 787 Dreamliner across the Pacific Ocean powered in part by aviation biofuel. The brand new 787 flew from Washington state to Japan using a biofuel blend made mainly from used cooking oil. The airplane emitted an estimated 30 percent less CO2 emissions compared to […]

The FAA has given the nod to the TouchTrainer – a home-based basic avionics training device (BATD) based on the X-Plane software with which you can stay instrument current in the comfort of your own home. You can even log up to 10 hours toward your instrument rating with this system, as long as you […]

Following FAA and EASA certification a few years prior, Transport Canada has given the official thumbs up to both the regular and special-mission versions of the Diamond DA42 NG. While Diamond continues to wait on Transport Canada’s okay for DA42 NG flight into known icing conditions, the company says the new certification will allow it […]

Cessna Aircraft showed positive momentum in the first quarter of the year, posting a big revenue increase to go along with reduced losses as the company delivered more airplanes. Cessna reported $669 million in revenue in the quarter, compared with $556 million a year ago, according to numbers released by parent Textron. Cessna also posted $6 million in […]

Authorities have suspended the search for the body of the Cessna 421 pilot who crashed into the Gulf of Mexico Thursday afternoon after remaining unresponsive to air traffic control calls for several hours. The Cessna 421 took off from Slidell, Louisiana, on Thursday morning and headed southeast over the Gulf, but drew concern from air […]

Each month I receive the NTSB Reporter (ntsbreporter@aol.com), which provides an abbreviated version of some of the more interesting NTSB reports that have been issued recently, along with a paragraph or two on a number of recent accidents and other stories of interest. As I read through the weather and other information available to a […]